"Scottish Snippets"

"Colour Supplement"

8 July 2006

Each week the Rampant Scotland Newsletter includes a number of photographs which illustrate the weather, flora and fauna of the current week around Scotland. There are so many such graphics worth including that a separate "colour supplement" is created so as not to totally overload the Newsletter. Here is this week's crop!


My grandfather used to travel around Scotland and even down to England, winning prizes at flower shows with his prize Begonias (as big as dinner plates, I was told), so I've always had a liking for them. Even when they look more like a rose, as seen here at Drumpellier Country Park in North Lanarkshire on Tuesday.





This unusual and striking flower is called "Primula Vialii". Many primulas tend to bloom in spring but this variety is summer flowering. It is easily grown, but is short lived.


The mother of these seven Mallard chicks keeps a watchful eye on her brood - but soon after they hatch they can swim, dive and feed themselves. The male mallard beetles off once the eggs have been laid and takes no further part in their survival. These ducklings were photographed at Colzium Lennox Estate in North Lanarkshire, just over a week ago.


What better flower to illustrate the lazy days of summer than a Water Lily? There are many different varieties of "Nymphaea" (their proper name) but white with yellow stamens is the most commonly found.


Looking like a distant relative of a thistle, the large (two inches or more across) yellow blooms of Centaurea Macrocephela make an impressive show in the herbaceous border. The flowers are surrounded by papery, silvery brown bracts which they dry out well and so are popular with flower arrangers.


Kalmia come in a range of colours from pale pink through red and purple to lilac and white. This striking variety is called Kalmia Latifolia "Bull's Eye". It was one of a number of different Kalmias growing in the wonderful, walled garden at Colzium Lennox Estate in North Lanarkshire.

If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page





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